Battery terminal

ABSTRACT

A battery terminal connector for connecting to a battery of the type having a frusto conical battery terminal post, the connector having a part circular bifurcate ring with a resin based plastics outer casing which is also of bifurcate shape but has overlapping lugs the ends of which, when moved towards one another, spread the arms of the connector, the casing comprising resilient means for retaining the connector to the battery terminal post.

United States Patent 1191 Pedler [111 3,831,271 1451 Aug. 27, 1974 BA'I'IERY TERMINAL [75] Inventor: Richard John Pedler, Camden Park,

Australia [73] Assignee: Camelec Limited, Camden Park,

South Australia, Australia 22 Filed: Oct.5, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 295,171

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 14, 1971 Australia 6635/71 52 us. (:1. 29/628, 29/629 [51] Int. Cl H02g 15/00 581 Field of Search 339/228, 227,224, 225,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,962,689 11/1960 Johnson et a1 339/228 3,093,432 6/1963 King 264/272 3,152,854 10/1964 Osborn 339/225 3,307,140 2/1967 Vallinotto et al.. 339/226 3,339,173 8/1967 Kiene 339/226 3,397,382 8/1968 Shannon 339/226 3,442,323 5/1969 Lewis et al 264/272 3,662,322 5/1972 Morrison 339/228 Primary Examiner-Charles W."Lanham Assistant Examiner.lames R. Duzan Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Jay L. Chaskin, Esq.

[ 9 ABSTRACT A battery terminal connector for connecting to a battery of. the type having a frusto conical battery terminal post, theconnector having a part circular bifurcate ring with a resin based plastics outer casing which is also of bifurcate shape but has overlapping lugs the ends of which, when moved towards one another, spread the arms of the connector, the casing comprising resilient means for retaining the connector to the battery terminal post.

3 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures BATTERY TERMINAL This invention relates to a battery terminal connector suitable for use on a leacLtype battery having a frusto conical post upstanding therefrom, and the invention further relates to a method of producing a battery terminal connector.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Among'the various types of battery terminals which have been proposed heretofore has been. a terminal.

corroded notwithstanding the lead-covering, and oncecorrosion commences, the lugs quickly become useless.

tions of extreme vibration which are sometimes en-= countered, for example on motor vehicles used on rough country roads.

Heretofore most battery terminal connectors have been provided with inner contact surfaces which are frusto conical and have the same included angle of taper as that of the terminal posts to which they are to be respectively fitted, but this arrangement is found to have such a small contact pressure that chemical reaction can and frequently does take place between the post and the contact surface of the lug. Efforts have been made to reduce this problem, and for example in the cited General Motors Patent No. 227,916 the inner surface of the connector is provided with a parallel walled or cylindrical section which is so arranged that when the connector is positioned on the terminal post, it functions to some extent as a scraper to scrape off dirt or corrosion films, and the contact area between the connector and the terminal post is relatively small, so that the pressure between the mating surfaces is high and corrosion is unlikely to develop. Although this to some extent resolves the corrosion problem between the interfaces, it does not resolve the problem which we have discovered and which is mentioned above, namely that of the battery terminal tending to work loose from the terminal post under certain extreme conditions.

OBJECTS or THE INVENTION The main single object of this invention is to provide a battery terminal of the spring type which is provided with lugs for opening or spreading of the anns of the connector, but wherein these lugs are less likely to be damaged than heretofore, and whereinthe lugs are formed of material which is non-corrosive under the influence of the effluent gases and vapours of a battery.

A second object of the invention is to provide improvements wherein a battery terminal connector is less likely to be dislodged upwardly over a tapered terminal post, even under conditions of extreme vibration and wear.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE- INVENTION This invention relates to a terminal connector. having a conductor in the form of a part circular bifurcate ring.

arranged to engage a frustoconical battery terminal post. The characterising featuresof the invention include resin based plastics material comprising resilient means moulded-around the bifurcate ring, and having lugsextending outwardly therefrom, the lugs overlapping and having their ends arranged so that,.when

moved towards one another, the arms of. the connector are spread and the resilient means is deformed. In a further form, the invention is further characterised by the .frusto conical portion of the contact surface terminates atits small diameter end in a shelf so as to form a ridge which firmly engages the outer surface of the battery terminal post in such a manner as to resist upward displacement under extreme conditions of vibration.

More specifically, the invention in.one.of its forms consists of a battery terminal connector having theconductor in the form of a part circular bifurcate ring with. an inner contact surface of such shape and size as to em gage a frusto conical battery terminal post, and an outer casingsurrounding and interengaging a bifurcate ring, the outer casing being formed of resin based plastics material and comprising resilient means, theouter casing also being of bifurcateshape but having overlapping lugs the ends of which, when moved-towards'one another, spread the arms of the connector-and deform the resilient means.

The resilient means may be in the form of a spring contained within the resin based plastics casing and bearing against the part circular bifurcate ring, or the resilient means may be characteristic of the resin based plastics material itself.

In a further form the invention includes the further features of the inner surface of the part circular conductor ring having a frusto conical portion with an acute angle which exceeds the included angle of frusto conicalterminal to which the connector is to be fitted, the frusto conical portion terminating at its small diameter end in a shelf and forming with the shelf a ridge which resiliently engages the terminal.

The invention also takes various other forms which are defined in the claims appended hereto.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS;

An embodiment of the invention is described hereunder in some detail with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. lis a plan view of a battery terminal connector,

. tion of the battery terminal connector and the resilient means when that resilient means is in the form of a C- shaped ring,

In this embodiment a battery terminal connector is formed to have a conductor 11 having the form of a part circular bifurcate ring 12 which is best seen in FIG. 5, the ring having a hollow tail 13 extending from it.

A cable 15 includes a wire core 16 covered with an insulating sheath 17, and portion of the insulating sheath 17 is removed to expose an end of the cable wire core which is inserted in the hollow tail 13, and crimped in place by means of a press. In the alternative, the wire core may be inserted in the mould in which the hollow tail 13 is moulded during the moulding of the conductor 11.

The conductor 11 is provided with upper and lower recesses designated 20 which are of triangular shape and which subsequently provide key means for keying the conductor 11 to the outer casing when this is moulded. The upper surface is also provided with a recess designated 21 for retaining of a C-shaped spring as I described hereinbelow.

The conductor 11 is provided with an inner contact surface 24 of frusto conical shape, the included cone angle of the surface 24 being greater than the included cone angle of the outer surface of the battery terminal post (not shown) with which the connector is to cooperate. The upper end of the surface 24 terminates in a planar shoulder surface 25, the angle subtended between the contact surface 24 and the shoulder surface 25 being an acute angle as illustrated in FIG. 4, and being at the smaller diameter end of the contact surface 24 so that the ridge formed between the shoulder and the contact surface firmly engages the surface of the battery terminal post and in turn forms an interface which is likely to corrode under the influence of the effiuent gases and vapours of a battery much less quickly than when low contact pressures exist.

In the embodiment which is illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 a C-shaped ring 27 nests in the recess 21 and bears against the bifurcate ring portion of the conductor 11 at a point axially close to the shoulder surface 25 but spaced radially outwardly therefrom. The C-shaped ring 27 is a ring of flat steel of relatively small thickness but relatively large width in a radial direction so that the ring applies a high pressure to that part of the part circular arms of the conductor which contacts the terminal post.

A casing designated 30 is formed from resin based plastics material, in the embodiment being described herein being a suitable grade of polyvinyl chloride, the casing 30 having a tail designated 31 which completely surrounds portion of the insulating sheath 17 of the cable 15, the casing 30 also having a portion which engages in the triangular section recesses 20, the casing 30 being of bifurcate shape but being provided at its bifurcated end with three lugs, two outer lugs 31 being on one arm and an inner lug 32 on the other arm, the lugs being separated as illustrated in FIG. 4 and overlapping as illustrated in FIG. 3, whereby the ends of the lugs (all designated 33) when moved towards one another spread the arms of the connector and deform the resil- 'ient spring 27 as the arms of the conductor are themselves deformed. This provides a simple means for positioning or removing the connector from the terminal posts of a battery.

Since the casing 30 encases most of the conductor 11 (excepting the contact surface 24) and also encases the otherwise exposed portion of the wire core 16 of the cable 15, it will be seen that corrosion is largely avoided. Furthermore it will be appreciated that the casing material firmly retains the C-shaped ring 27 in its recess 21.

It will be clear to those skilled in the art that normal moulding techniques do not suffice for moulding the I product of this invention. In order to illustrate the method of moulding the products, FIG. 6 shows the two parts of the die separated, FIG. 7 is a plan view of the lower die part and FIG. 8 shows the slidable inserts.

The die designated generally as 36 includes an upper die part 37 and lower die part 38. The die parts are arranged so that the plane between them when closed is the central plane of the battery terminal connector, but as seen in FIG. 4, the central plane of the battery terminal connector is not the central plane of the bifurcate ring 12 of the conductor 11, there being a larger thickness of casing above the bifurcate ring than below it. This enables the C-shaped spring 27 to be firmly retained and resists any tendency for the spring to tip or buckle beneath the casing. In the lower die part 38 there is provided a central spigot 39 which is arranged to support the bifurcate ring 12 of the conductor 11, while the cavity designated 40 (existing in both die parts) will contain the hollow tail 13 but with a space surrounding it. The water cooled blocks 41 (existing in both die parts) each contain a part circular section groove 42 for supporting the insulating sheath 17 of the cable 15 and water cooling it so it will not be excessively damaged by the heat of the plastics material during moulding.

The upper die part 37 is provided with a depending spigot 44 which aligns with the central spigot 39 of the lower die part 38, and alignment is assured by means of the guide pin 45 which engages in an aperture 46 in the central spigot 39. When the die parts are closed the two spigots 39 and 44 lie central with one another and face to face to form the central cavity of the connector 10, but in order to provide a clean shelf 25 the depending spigot 44 is of slightly larger diameter than the upper end of the central spigot 39. By this means the shoulder 25 is not washed with plastics during moulding, or if it is washed with a flash of plastics this is readily cleaned away.

The description heretofore of the die parts is substantially in accordance with known art, but difficulty is encountered in the moulding of the overlapping lugs 31 and 32. In this invention however, both the die parts 37 and 38 are provided with slots designated 48, the two slots 48 aligning with the die parts are closed together to form a single rectangular section aperture extending transversely across the die. This aperture is interrupted in a central position by a round ended plate 49 in both the upper and lower die part, the two rounded ended plates 49 abutting one another when the die parts are closed.

A pair of oppositely aligned lugs forming inserts are illustrated in FIG. 8, one insert being designated 51 and the other being designated 52, the lug fomiing inserts being slidable within the aperture formed by the slots 48, the lug forming inserts abutting one another in end to end relationship and surfaces designated 54 which abut the sides and ends of the round ended plates 49. Both the lug forming inserts 51 and 52 are provided with horizontal division plates designated 55, one of the inserts (insert 51) having a vertical division plate 56 extending between the horizontal division plates 55 and the other insert (52) having further vertical division plates designated 57 extending above and below respective division plates 55 but not between them. With this arrangement then the division plates form a central lug which is integral with the right hand arm of the casing 30 and two lugs integral with the left hand arm, which overlap the central lug. As shown in FIG. 8 the ends of the lugs are arranged to project beyond those portions which connect the other respective lugs to their respective arms to thereby provide means for application of a pressure tool, for example a pair of pliers for spreading the arms.

The above embodiment has been described with respect to the C-spring 27 forming the resilient materials. If use is made of thermoplastic polyester filled with glass, then the casing material itself can constitute the resilient means. Typical examples of suitable materials are sold respectively by Plasttrading Ltd., of Zeist, Holland under the trade mark ARNITE and also by Celanese Plastics Company of Newark, N.J., U.S.A. under the Trade Mark CELANEX. CELANEX for example is a thermoplastics polyester containing 30 percent by weight of short glass fibers and at 73F having an elongation of 2% a tensile modulus of 1.3 X psi, a flexural stress of 26,000 psi having 5% deformation, and a flexural modulus of 1.1 X 10 Such a material is usually moulded in hot dies, and to achieve a satisfactory result for the product of this invention, and as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 heating elements 60 are inserted in both the die parts 37 and 38 and arranged to maintain the dies at a temperature of 140F. The interlocking of the casing 30 with the conductor 11 through the recesses transmits resilience of the case 30 to the conductor 11 and at the same time prevents the case 30 from pulling away from the conductor when the arms are spread. Furthermore, the ends of the part circular bifurcate conductor ring 12 which face each other are covered with plastics material of the case 30, and this also assists in preventing the case 30 from pulling away from the conductor.

It will be understood that the foregoing disclosure of preferred embodiments of the present invention is for purposes of illustration only, and that various structural and operational features disclosed may be modified and changed in a number of ways none of which involves any departure from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the hereto appended claims.

I claim:

1. A method of producing a battery terminal connector comprising the steps:

a. moulding a part circular bifurcate ring of a lead based alloy, said ring having an inner contact frusto conical surface,

b. positioning said ring in an injection moulding die which comprises a pair of die parts, a slot extending across the die parts when closed, a pair of oppositely aligned lug forming inserts in the slot and guided for movement by the walls of the slot,

0. moving said lug forming inserts towards one an- I other,

d. injecting a resin based plastics material into said die to mould an outer casing around said bifurcate ring and form lugs in said slot between the lug forming inserts,

e. withdrawing the inserts away from one another,

and, 1

f. opening the die parts and removing the connector therefrom.

2. Method of producing a battery terminal connector according to claim 1 further comprising moulding a hollow tail to extend outwardly from the part circular bifurcate ring, removing the end of the insulation of an insulated wire cable to expose a length of cable, inserting the exposed length of wire into the hollow tail and clamping the tail over the wire, and then effecting steps (b), (c), (d), (e) and (f) of claim 1 to mould said outer casing over said bifurcate ring and, at the same time, over portion of said insulation.

3. Method of producing a battery terminal connector according to claim 1 further comprising moulding a hollow tail to extend outwardly from the part circular bifurcate ring, removing the end of the insulation of an insulated wire cable to expose a length of cable, inserting the exposed length of wire into the hollow tail and moulding the tail over the wire, and then effecting steps (b), (c), (d), (e) and (f) ofclaim l to mould said outer casing over said bifurcate ring and, at the same time,

over portion of said insulation. 

1. A method of producing a battery terminal connector comprising the steps: a. moulding a part circular bifurcate ring of a lead based alloy, said ring having an inner contact frusto conical surface, b. positioning said ring in an injection moulding die which comprises a pair of die parts, a slot extending across the die parts when closed, a pair of oppositely aligned lug forming inserts in the slot and guided for movement by the walls of the slot, c. moving said lug forming inserts towards one another, d. injecting a resin based plastics material into said die to mould an outer casing around said bifurcate ring and form lugs in said slot between the lug forming inserts, e. withdrawing the inserts away from one another, and, f. opening the die parts and removing the connector therefrom.
 2. Method of producing a battery terminal connector according to claim 1 further comprising moulding a hollow tail to extend outwardly from the part circular bifurcate ring, removing the end of the insulation of an insulated wire cable to expose a length of cable, inserting the exposed length of wire into the hollow tail and clamping the tail over the wire, and then effecting steps (b), (c), (d), (e) and (f) of claim 1 to mould said outer casing over said bifurcate ring and, at the same time, over portion of said insulation.
 3. Method of producing a battery terminal connector according to claim 1 further comprising moulding a hollow tail to extend outwardly from the part circular bifurcate ring, removing the end of the insulation of an insulated wire cable to expose a length of cable, inserting the exposed length of wire into the hollow tail and moulding the tail over the wire, and then effecting steps (b), (c), (d), (e) and (f) of claim 1 to mould said outer casing over said bifurcate ring and, at the same time, over portion of said insulation. 